


Timestamp: Third Time's A Charm

by amfiguree



Series: with a dog and a white picket fence [2]
Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Mpreg, Timestamp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 08:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1130416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amfiguree/pseuds/amfiguree





	Timestamp: Third Time's A Charm

Two pregnancies in, and if there's one thing David's learned about contractions, it's that a) you can't predict when they'll start, but b) you can bet it'll be right around the most inconvenient time possible.  
  
Which is obviously why Archie picks right now to start hyperventilating; right now being three in the morning, when David's been running from Taylor to Cody's room all night, alternating between dealing with a stomach-flu stricken, puking four-year-old and a ten-month old teething baby. Suffice to say he's not at his best.  
  
"Fuck," he says, kind of desperately, Cody still wailing in his arms as he stands in the middle of the chaos formerly known as Taylor's bedroom. Archie's sitting beside her, one hand warm on her back, the other curled around his belly, murmuring quietly as she whimpers into his side.   
  
"Daddy," she moans. "Swear jar."  
  
David's laugh comes out more like a panicked sob than anything else.  
  
"Cook," Archie says calmly, and the only thing that gives him away is the little hitch in his breath at the end, the tiniest wince he can't smooth away. Jesus _fuck_ , where's the ambulance? "I think we're going to need a bucket."  
  
"Yeah," David says, as Cody smacks him in the jaw with a tiny fist. "F--yeah, okay, just - hang on, honey. Daddy's going to be right back."  
  
Which--of course _that's_ when the ambulance shows up.  
  
David's in the kitchen with a bucket on one arm and a screaming Cody still struggling in the other, and when he hears the sirens he's caught between flailing in relief and breaking down in tears. "He's upstairs," he says, once he's opened the door. "It's kind of an emergency."   
  
  
  
The worst part, though? The worst part is that David doesn't get to go with.   
  
"It's okay, Cook," Archie says, in between three sharp inhales as he's helped up by the two paramedics. "It's, ow, it's okay."  
  
"Arch--"  
  
"But Papa--"  
  
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh," Cody wails.   
  
"You're sick, honey," Archie says, calmly ( _calmly_ , David has no idea how he's doing that) pressing a kiss to Taylor's temple. "Daddy's going to stay here and take care of you and Cody, and I'll be home in a few days with your new baby sister, okay?"   
  
"Okay," Taylor says grudgingly, after a couple of seconds. Then: "Um, I think I need to be sick again."  
  
"Crap," David says, and puts the bucket on the floor as he slides into bed beside her.   
  
"Mr. Archuleta-Cook? We really should get going."  
  
"Um, yes," Archie says, as he picks his duffel bag up.   
  
"Hey," David says, sliding his ankle quickly up over Archie's. "It's going to be okay," he makes himself say.   
  
"It is," Archie says easily, and leans into him for a second, runs a quick hand over Cody's forehead that just makes Cody bawl even louder. "I'm just going to go to the hospital before I pass out."   
  
"Ha ha," David says, dryly, even though his heart is going a mile a minute, and -- fuck, he's never been so worried in his life. "Go. I'll be there as soon as Mom gets here."  
  
"Stop worrying," Archie says, but he lingers for another second before he heads for the door, and David watches him disappear out the doorway until Taylor makes another quiet, pitiful noise and buries her head in his lap.  
  
"Daddy," she says, miserably.  
  
"Hey," David says, pressing a kiss into her hair. "It's going to be okay."  
  
Distantly, he hears the roar of an engine, and the sound of sirens coming to life. He _aches_ for a second, knowing that Archie's alone, that he has to be _here_ instead of--  
  
Then Cody snuffles against his shoulder, demanding attention with his tiny fists against the side of David's neck, like he's saying, _this is where you need to be_. David laughs at that, helplessly, and if it comes out a little watery, there's no one else around to hear it but his kids.   
  
"Yeah," he murmurs, as Cody whines against him and Taylor sniffles against his skin. "It's going to be okay."


End file.
